The cost of childcare through the school summer holidays is now £943 per child on average, a survey suggests.
Working parents also face a huge disparity in price depending on where they live in Britain, according to the charity Coram Family and Childcare.
Families in central London are paying up to 25% more for places than those in the East of England, it said.
Mum-of-two Melissa Gauge told the BBC unaffordable childcare had left many parents feeling "stuck and desperate".
"What if you don't have grandparents or friends? There are some really dire situations out there," she said.
A British family will pay on average £943 for six weeks of holiday childcare for a school-age child, the survey by Coram found. That's a 3% increase on last year.
Private holiday clubs are almost a third more expensive than those run by local authorities, it found.
